You Gout-a Take Your Vitamin C

With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner many people may be partaking in adult beverages and eating traditional Irish foods like corn beef and cabbage. However, those prone to gout should watch both their alcohol consumption and their diet. Gout flair ups, most prevalent in men over the age of 40, can be induced by foods containing purines. Purines, part of all human tissue and found in many foods, can raise uric acid levels in the blood or the under-elimination of uric acid by the kidneys, and precipitate gout attacks in some people.

According to findings published in the new issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, vitamin C may reduce levels of uric acid in the blood, thereby preventing the formation of the urate crystal. Vitamin C could also increase the speed at which the kidneys work or protect against inflammation, both of which may reduce gout risk, which would be very lucky.

-Community Assistant